


who did the oopsie?

by IronSwordStarShield (SweetFanfics)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (its all the guilt), M/M, steve can't lie to save his life, suspicious tony, tony's secret weakness is he can be bribed with food
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-14 00:55:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20591984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetFanfics/pseuds/IronSwordStarShield
Summary: Now, in the present, where Steve’s holding out a mug of Tony’s favorite coffee with the most softest and most innocent of smiles whose warmth could rival a dawning autumn morning, Tony is suspicious. Tony narrows his eyes, pressing the sheath of papers in his hands against his chest as he asks, “Someone broke something, didn’t they?”A bead of sweat forms on Steve’s forehead. “Why would you say that?” he says far too quickly. “Nothing’s broken. Everything’s fine. Just fine.”





	who did the oopsie?

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this adorable comic fanart by @mrrtas](https://ironswordandstarshield.tumblr.com/post/187163856700/bringer-of-bad-news-and-coffee), please enjoy Steve tryina ply Tony with goodies cuz he did an oopsie

Tony eyes the red mug Steve’s holding out to him. It’s the _good _coffee, the one Tony qualifies as an _indulgence_ but not because of it’s cost. Rather because of how fucking _delicious_ it is. It’s the coffee Tony makes when he’s having a bad day and he desperately needs a pick-me-up. It’s also kept hidden in a sealed jar deep in the coffee cabinet (mislabeled for increased security) because he doesn’t want the others getting their hands on it. How did Steve know where that coffee tin was is outside of Tony’s knowledge but what Tony _does _know is that something is up. 

Because here’s the thing. It’s not that Steve’s doesn’t do nice things for him. It’s just that the whole _strategy _to approach Tony with some kind of food that Tony loves before breaking bad news to him is a tried and true strategy used by his friends. Happy’s fond of plying him with cheeseburgers before confessing that one of Tony’s cars got into an accident. Pepper will treat him to sushi and sake before sliding a contract his way that’s sure to get him seeing red. And Rhodey’s bribe of choice is apple pie from this diner back in Boston that _still _makes Tony cry whenever he takes a bite because it's the perfect balance between apple tartness and sugar-y sweetness.

So. Now, in the present, where Steve’s holding out a mug of Tony’s favorite coffee with the most softest and most innocent of smiles whose warmth could rival a dawning autumn morning, Tony is _suspicious. _Honestly, he’s surprised that Steve hasn’t offered Tony the cookies he’d hidden in the pink tin next to the coffee.

Tony narrows his eyes, pressing the sheath of papers in his hands against his chest as he asks, “Someone broke something, didn’t they?”

A bead of sweat forms on Steve’s forehead. “Why would you say that?” he says far too quickly. “Nothing’s broken. Everything’s fine. Just fine.” 

Tony waits a beat, holds Steve’s gaze, and then _slowly _raises an incredulous eyebrow because really? He’s supposed to believe that? _Really_? Another drop of sweat forms on Steve’s face, this one on his nose. His breathing has gone shallow too and his arm is trembling faintly as he keeps holding that mug out.

“Nothing’s broken?” Tony parrots back, crossing his arms as he stares Steve down. “There’s no bad news you wanna tell me about? You just made this coffee out of the goodness of your heart because you thought I needed a treat? You just wanted to surprise me?” 

And now there’s a third drop of sweat; this one rolls down the side of Steve’s face as he swallows hard, his smile weakening under Tony’s stern gaze. “Um… yes? I mean. I wanted to thank you. For uhh… putting up with us. Putting us up in the Tower! But also putting up with us because we’re not easy people to put up.”

Wow that was… Tony stares at Steve with something close to pity because that was just _bad_. That’s worse than Happy on his worst attempt to try and sweeten Tony up before breaking the bad news. He’d never have thought that Steve would be _this bad _of a liar. He must telegraph his shocked amazement at Steve because Steve just _goes off _like a frightened, skittish hare, rambling for all he’s worth. 

“It’s honestly just a simple thank you coffee like, I found it in the cabinet with your note on it and I thought that I’d do something nice for you because you’re doing lots of nice things for us and it felt right to return the favor even if it’s just coffee. And it’s totally not me trying to butter you up. It really isn’t. Do you want cookies by the way? They're still in the oven because I wanted them to stay warm. Not that cooled cookies are bad but oven-fresh is the best way to go, right?”

And Steve just gave the whole game away with that because only Rhodey knows how much Tony _loves _oatmeal cookies. Sighing, Tony reaches out to touch Steve’s shoulder, who starts hard enough for some of the coffee to slosh to the floor and their shoes. Tony has to bite his lips to keep from letting out a braying laugh at Steve’s shocked and dismayed expression.

“Steve…” Tony starts and stops, not sure how he wants to continue. 

Lucky for him, Steve breaks all on his own. He places both coffee mugs onto the counter and sags, shoulders drooping with dejection as he asks, “How could you tell?”

“There’s only three people who know the best way to soften me up is by offering me food. Who told you?” Tony asks, unable to stop himself from giving Steve’s back a little sympathetic rub because poor Steve looks _miserable_. 

“Rhodey. I asked him what to do.”

Of course. “And what did you break?” Tony asks with all the gentleness he has because a sad Steve is the worst Steve, even more than when he cranks his mother hen-ness to 11. 

Steve collapses in on himself; he buries his face in his hands and tries to become one with the marble counter top. It's a bit like a brown bear trying to hide behind a whispy tree; it's fucking comical. He mumbles something into his palms but Tony, for all his genius, cannot speak mumble so he rubs Steve’s back some more and asks, “Mind repeating that?”

Steve mumbles something again. Tony catches one word in the sentence and its “DUM-E.”

“You broke DUM-E?” Tony asks in surprise because … well. Steve’s usually always so careful with the bots. He treats them like they’re little people instead of, you know. Giant sturdy metal AI arm robots. Fuck, that was a mouthful. 

Steve looks up and his big blue eyes are wet with unshed tears. “I didn’t mean to! I was trying to teach him how to play frisbee and he got a little too overexcited and crashed into a wall!” Tony opens his mouth to point out that _that, _unfortunately, has happened quite a few times before but Steve's still talking. “I don’t know how but he broke his arm! It was hanging all limp and I couldn’t fix it and I just left him there. I shouldn’t have but JARVIS said it was better to wait for you but I thought you’d be mad that I hurt him and-”

He has to put his fingertips on Steve’s mouth to make him stop. And as he does so, Steve jumps in surprise. Tony grins faintly up at the man. When he’s sure that Steve’s not going to start rambling again, Tony asks, “Was his arm hanging like this?” Tony holds his arm up at a 90 degree angle and lets his forearm dangle. Steve nods immediately. “Yeah. That’s a design flaw I never fixed. He just knocked the joint out of place. He’ll be right as rain in two minutes when I get down to the lab. You wanna help me with that?”

Steve’s eyes light up like Tony just saved Christmas instead of solving a problem he’s had to solve at least once a month since he made DUM-E. It makes the back of his neck heat up uncomfortably, especially when Steve nudges the coffee towards him. As Tony picks the mug up, Steve heads to the oven and pulls out a plate piled high with delicious smelling cookies. Drool immediately begins to pool under Tony's tongue.

“Do you still want these?” Steve asks as he shyly places the cookies near Tony's elbow. “I made them myself so I’m not totally sure about how they taste but JARVIS helped with the coffee.”

“You fight, you knit, you bake,” Tony teases as gently as he can, picking up a cookie from the top of the pile. He takes a big sniff of em and sighs happily; they smell fucking fantastic. “Is there anything you can’t do Cap?”

“Apparently I can’t teach DUM-E spatial awareness,” Steve points out glumly as he takes a cookie for himself.

“To be fair, that’s a DUM-E problem, not a you problem. Now come on,” Tony stuffs the cookie in his mouth before he slaps Steve’s back. “Wolk wif me. Lemme tea'ch you ho'a fix 'em w'en dis haffens nex' time.”


End file.
